Enhanced free-to-air service looming

Research suggests free-to-air linear TV viewing is still strong. Photo / File

Free-to-air television starts marketing an upgraded "Freeview Plus" service this month.

It is playing catch-up after a flood of new technology and changes to the way people view programming.

Freeview Plus will increase the library of content available to users and provide easier access and navigation of On Demand content for Television New Zealand, MediaWorks and Maori TV.

For the half of the country who do not have Sky it will make Freeview more of a gateway to make free-to-air stand out from the rapidly growing number of online outlets that are fragmenting the market.

Freeview Plus will be operational in June or July.

Research suggests free-to-air linear TV viewing is still strong.

But media technology expert Peter Griffin said the trend was shifting towards pick and mixing individual programming.

The Freeview Plus initiative was occurring at "a fork in the road" where free-to-air defined it relevance.

Most new 2015 model televisions in stores later this month will be Freeview Plus capable and people with older sets will be able to access Freeview Plus through a set top box that will cost about $150. Griffin said that may be a downside.

It will take 10 years for Freeview Plus enabled TVs to dominate and those 10 years will almost inevitably include persistent change.

Griffin says free-to-air channels have no choice but to have a set top box to serve the majority of its viewers who are watching traditional linear tv.

But he questioned how many consumers would want another set top box on the television cabinet.

New Zealand On Air issued research on children's media use this week which showed the most watched medium for 8-14-year-olds was You Tube. TV2 was second.

Griffin said that linear television was still drawing children, but the overall uptake for free-to-air On Demand is low and Freeview Plus might help increase that.

But there was a rapid change taking place for New Zealand television.

"In the past 18 months we have gone from having no options other than Sky TV to perhaps half a dozen. People are trying to get their heads around that and how it works."

Ironically the growth of cheaper pay TV options like subscription video on demand might work hand in hand with a better free-to-air service like Freeview Plus which was focused on the half of the country thatdoes not take the full Sky service.